GB2134447A

GB2134447A - Device for gluing sheet-like textile articles

Info

Publication number: GB2134447A
Application number: GB08402337A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jurgen Inselmann
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-02-02
Filing date: 1984-01-30
Publication date: 1984-08-15
Also published as: JPS59144675A; IT8447633A0; GB2134447B; DE3303504A1; FR2539965B1; FR2539965A1; GB8402337D0; HK78088A; IT1177535B; DE3303504C2; JPS6218668B2; US4560431A

Description

1 GB 2 134 447 A 1

SPECIFICATION

Device for gluing sheet-like textile articles This invention relates to a device for gluing together sheet-like textile articles, especially those for outer clothing (outer material and lining), with two con veyor belts which are arranged to be driven con tinuously at the same speed, the textile articles to be joined together being conveyable between said belts resting against one another in the transport region, with a heating station having several heating zones and with a subsequent pressing station, the indi vidual heating zones being arranged in succession in the transport plane of the conveyor belts and each having a heatable plate.

Such a device is known from German Offenle gungsschrift No. 2,248,181. This device has, in practice, working widths of 800 to 1,500 mm. The heated plates, arranged in succession in the working direction above and below the conveyor belts, allow effective heating sections of up to 2,000 mm. The subdivision of the heating sections into heating zones is governed, in the working direction, by the particular lengths of the heatable plates. In this device, the plates are heated on their rear side, that is to say on the side facing away from the transport plane, by infra red radiators. Furthermore, the plates are curved cylindrically transversely to the direction of transport, that is to say the cylinder axis lies transversely to the direction of transport, and are also arranged above and below the transport plane sinusoidally in succession in the direction of trans port. As a result of the curved design and the sinusoidal arrangement, the conveyor belts rest with 100 slight pressure against the working surfaces of the heated plates.

German Patent Specification 2,648,724 makes known a similar device in which two heating zones arranged in succession in the direction of transport each have two flat plates, which are located on both sides of the transport plane and in each of which are embedded several heating elements which can be controlled individually and switched on or off together in specific combinations. The individual heating zones can be subdivided into part regions over the working width of the plates, this subdivision being implemented by the additional provision of further heating elements.

German Offen legu ngssch rift 2,145,447 shows a further device in which a plurality of electrically heated units in the form of rotatable rollers or hollow beams is arranged within the heating section in succession, transversely to the working direction of the device and alternately above and below the transport plane at a relatively great distance from one another.These units can be heated individually by means of heating bars, and in the case of hollow beams a U-shaped heating bar is located on the rear side or inside of the working surface of each beam profile. Moreover, the design and arrangement of the hollow beans are such that the conveying direction of the conveyor belts, with the textile articles located between them and to be glued to one another, experiences a change in the region of each 130 beam. Consequently, the textile articles are not, as in the abovementioned devices (German Offenlegungsschrift 2,248,181 and German Patent Specification 2,648,724), conveyed along relatively long uninterrupted plate heating zones and at the same time heated. Also, in German Offenlegungsschrift 2,145,447, the individual heating devices can be controlled individually or in groups.

A disadvantage of the known devices with heat- able plates or plate heating zones is that the various production sizes of the plates are relatively costintensive and therefore uneconomical to manufacture, and also thatthe design of the plates in heating terms cannot be considered the most efficient possible, because truly uniform heating of the working surfaces cannot be achieved, in practice, to the extent predetermined in each particular case. In the beam-shaped heating devices of German Offenlegungsschrift 2, 145,447, it is also impossible to acheive heating which can be considered the most efficient possible, since heat radiation occurs in the relatively large gaps between the individual heating elements. Moreover, the textile articles undergo severe stress as a result of the constant fulling work which takes place there, and this often even results in so-called corrugations in them.

The present invention aims to improve on the known devices for gluing together textile articles in such a way that the various different plate and heating zones or device production sizes required in practice can be produced economically with the most efficient design in heating terms.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a device for gluing together sheet-like textile articles, said device comprising two conveyor belts arranged to be driven continuously at the same speed, the textile articles to be joined together being conveyable between said belts resting against one another in the transport region, a heating station having several heating zones and a subsequent pressing station, wherein the individual heating zones are arranged in succession in the transport plane of the conveyor belts and each has a heatable plate consisting of a plurality of hollow-profile heaters arranged next to one another, wherein electrically heatable panel heaters are attached to the rear side of the working surface of the hollow- profile heaters and wherein the panel heaters are arranged to be switched on and off individually or in groups.

The various production size of heated plates designed according to the invention can be produced considerably more cheaply and therefore more economically. Thus, for example as seen in the working direction of the device, plates of different lengths can be produced rapidly by joining together the particular requisite number of hollow-profile heaters, which can be made particularly cheaply in series, and can, if necessary, be quickly changed again to other lengths, this being of great advantage.

The provision of panel heaters ensures uniform heating, very largely free of energy losses, of the working surface of the hollow-profile heaters and consequently of the plate formed from several of these hollow-profile heaters, and this again also has an advantageous effect on the regulation and read- 2 GB 2 134 447 A 2 justment of the predetermined operating temperatures of this plate.

Because the individual heaters can be controlled in a way known per se, in particular individually or in groups, any desire temperature distribution or heating curve can be produced along the plates.

The hollow-profile heaters of the individual plates may be arranged directly next to one another. This arrangement represents a particularly economical solution, especially as regards the outlay in terms of assembly. However, the individual hollow-profile heaters must be slightly displaceable relative to one another in the transport direction, so that thermal stresses can be compensated.

Alternatively, the hollow-profile heaters may be arranged next to one another at a distance allowing expansion. With this arrangement, the individual hollow-profile heaters can be mounted firmly on a frame, since each has sufficient space forthermal expansion.

Adjacent hollow-profile heaters desirably include between them a preferably elastic insulating layer. The advantage of this arrangement is that the individual hollow-profile heaters are thermally insu- lated from one another, so that any temperature distributions in the direction of transport can be set without these heaters influencing one another.

The working surface of the individual hollowprofile heaters is desirably curved, preferably to correspond to the shape of the curvature of the individual plates. The advantage of this is that with only one or possibly with two different hollowprofile heaters, all plane, curved and cylindrical heating-zone working surfaces conventional in prac- tice atthe presenttime can be produced, this ensuring a particular saving in costs.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, supporting profiles are adapted to be pushed into the hollow-profile heaters to mount said heaters on side wal Is of a frame of the device, said side walls being located on both sides of the conveyor belts. Preferably, the hollowprofile heaters are designed as extruded aluminium hollowprofile bars and the supporting profiles are designed as extruded steel hollow-profile bars. This ensures simple assembly and, at the same time, high stability, The panel heaters may be designed as heating mats, flexible per se, which are vulcanized or glued onto the rear side of the working surface of the particular hollow- profile heater. A silicone-rubber vulcanized material may serve as the plastic material and the fabric reinforcement may be a glass-fibre fabric. The panel heaters may further consist of a fabric-reinforced plastic material with heating elements embedded in this. This design ensures good resistance to weathering and ageing and also temperature resistance up to continuous operating temperatures of approximately 200'C.

Moreover, the panel heaters may be multi-layer, each layer having one or more heating elements, and the individual layers being vulcanized or.glued to one another.

The heating elements are desirably smooth and/or spiral heating wires. Preferably, the heating wires 130 are embedded in the plastic material in the form of a U, in the form ofa Z, helically and/or spirally, and current feed terminals are located on a side of the panel heaters which extends parallel to the transport direction of the textile articles. Two or more layers of heating wires in arrangements having different configurations may be embedded above one another in the or each layer of plastic material of each panel heater.

By means of the above features, it is possible to organize the heating of the heaters, particularly those with curved working surfaces, not only so that each of them is heated absolutely uniformly, but also so that each individual working surface or heater and/or groups of working surfaces or heaters are heated differently.

The heating elements of each panel heater are desirably arranged to be connected either in parallel or in series with one another. By means of this arrangement, on the one hand the heating-up time can be reduced and, on the other hand, effective control of the operating temperature can be carried out. For rapid heating-up, the heating elements are connected in parallel, with the result that a greater amount of electric energy is used up and consequently more rapid heating- up takes place. To control relatively small deviations from the desired set operating temperature, it is then suff icient to provide a lower energy supply through the series connection.

According to a preferred embodiment, a thermostat is provided which is arranged firstly to connect the heating elements in parallel during a heating-up phase and then, shortly before the operating temper- ature is reached, to change over to a series connection, until the predetermined operating temperature on the working surface of the hollow- profile heaters is reached, with a tolerance of at most i:3%. An additional switching contact may be provided in the thermostat for changeover from parallel connection to series connection, said contact preferably being arranged to operate at between 0 and 30'C below the desired operating temperature.

Finally, it is preferred that two or more heating elements of a panel heater and/or two or more hollow-profile heaters are arranged to be heated up and/or regulated as regards their temperature in a predetermined (programmable) group combination.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a diagrammatical longitudinal side view of one embodiment of a device according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a cross-section of an individual hollow-prof ile heater with an attached panel heater and supporting profile; Figure 3 shows the relative position of two hollow-profile heaters according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 showsa partial longitudinal section along the sectional line A- 13 in Figure 2; Figure. 5shows a similar partial longitudinal section along the sectional line A-B in Figure 2 on an enlarged scale and with a two-layer panel heater; c c 3 GB 2 134 447 A 3 Figures 6, 7 and Bare plan views of panel heaters with different arrangement configurations of wiretype heating elements, Figure 8 containing three heating elements; and Figure 9 shows a wiring diagram of a control and regulating device for the panel heater of Figure 8.

By means of the device according to the invention, sheet-like textile articles are to be glued to one another. Two outer materials 10 and 11 can be seen in Figure 1, two linings 12 and 13 being arranged between them, and from top to bottom the outer material 10, the linings 12 and 13 and the outer material 11 form a gluing unit 14 which rests on a spreading station 15. The gluing unit is transported from the spreading station 15 through a heating station 16 where it is heated under slight pressure. From there, it passes into a pressing station 17 and subsequently to a take-off station 18 which can, if appropriate, be designed as a cooling station. For transport purposes, there are two conveyor belts 19 and 20 which run parallel to one anotherwithin the heating station 16 and the pressing station 17 and which transportthe gluing unit 14 between them. The upper conveyor belt 19 is guided via rollers 21 and a pressure roller 39 of the pressing station 17. The lower conveyor belt 20 is guided via rollers 22 and a pressure roller 40 of the pressing station 17. The lower conveyor belt 20 is longer than the upper conveyor belt 19 and also runs via the spreading station 15 and the take-off station 18. The heating station 16 has several heating zones which are formed by curved plates 23 and 24. In Figure 1, the first plate 23 is located underneath the transport plane and therefore underneath the lower conveyor belt 20. However, the curvature of the plate 23 is such that the two conveyor belts 19 and 20 are pressed out of the plane formed between the rollers at the entrance and exit of the heating station. The plate 23 is followed by a plate 24 which is located above the two conveyor belts and which is curved in 105 the opposite direction to the plate 23, so thatthe two conveyor belts 19 and 20 are pressed downwards out of the said plane in their region of influence. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the two plates 23 and 24 are cured in such a way that the 110 transport path through the heating station has approximately a sinusoidal shape. As a result, the two conveyor belts are pressed against one another within the heating station and thus exert a certain pressing force on the gluing unit 14.

The plates 23 and 24 consist of individual ele ments, that is to say hollow-profile heaters 25, which are arranged next to one another so that as a whole they form a "plate-shape" structure. More detailed features are explained further below.

From the heating station 16, the two conveyor belts pass between the pressure rollers 39, 40 of the pressing station 17. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the upper roller 39 is arranged fixed in place, while the lower pressure roller 40 serves as a pressing-on roller.

For this purpose, it is mounted on a roller supporting lever 41 which is pivotable about a fulcrum 42. That end of the roller-supporting lever 41 which is facing away from the pressure roller 40 is 130 articulated on a pressure cylinder 43, via which the desired pressing force of the pressing station can be adjusted. The rollers 21, 22 for the two conveyor belts 19, 20 are arranged behind the pressing station 17, in such a way that the two conveyor belts 19, 20 move apart from one another. The lower conveyor belt 20 then runs via the take-off station 18 which has a cooled table plate 46.

The conveyor belts 19 and 20 are driven and guided continuously in the direction of the arrow 47 by means of the rollers 21 and 22 respectively. For tensioning the conveyor belts 19 and 20, there are tensioning devices known per se, which have been omitted in the drawing for the sake of a clear illustration. The two conveyor belts 19 and 20 can be perforated. The spreading station 15 also contains a table plate 45.

The mode of operation of the device according to Figure 1 is as follows: the gluing unit 14, which is placed on the lower conveyor belt 20 in the spreading station 15 by the operator of the device and which consists of the sheet-like textile articles 10, 11 (outer materials) and 12, 13 (linings) laid on one another in the manner of a sandwich, is guided by this belt, interacting with the upper conveyor belt 19, under slight pressing force over the curved heated plates 23, 24 and is at the same time heated. The gluing unit 4 is heated in such a way that first the lower side of it is heated in a continuous heating process by means of contact heat, the upper side being preheated at the same time by evaporating inherent moisture in the lower side. Immediately afterthis, the upper side of the gluing unit 14 is heated further by the plate 24 by means of contact heat, and at the same time as this the already fully heated lower side is maintained at the correct temperature, particularly as a result of inherent moisture which continues to evaporate, whilst at the same time the evaporated inherent moisture no longer required for heating is discharged through the lower perforated conveyor belt 20. This guarantees, among other things, that only uniformly heated sheet-like textile articles are supplied to the pair of pressure rollers 39, 40 which are under a relatively high pressing force, as a consequence of which only sheet-like textile articles glued together perfectly arrive at the takeoff station 18.

All the above-described parts of the device are retained or accommodated in a device frame which is indicated by the side walls 30 and 31 in Figure 1.

The special feature of the invention is the design of the heating station 16. Here, the plates 23 and 24 are composed of individual hollow-profile heaters 25 which are described in more detail in relation to Figures 2 to 5. The hollow-profile heaters 25 preferably consist of extruded aluminum hollow-profile bars, the profile of which can be seen in Figure 2. Briefly, this profile is mirror-symmetrical to a center line (sectional line A-B) and has on its upper side a wall 28, the outside of which forms the working surface. Adjoining this laterally, approximately at right angles, are two shorter legs which are parallel to one another and which each merge, in turn, into a short leg pointing towards the center line and extending parallel to the wall 28. From there, a 4 GB 2 134 447 A 4 further leg lying parallel to the center line then extends again in each case. The two last-mentioned legs have short noses which are directed towards the center line and which serve for receiving a substantially rectangular supporting profile 29 which is preferably designed as an extruded steel hollowprofile bar. Thus, this supporting profile 29 rests againstthe last-mentioned legs and againstthe noses of which there are four altogether. In the transitional region between the short legs pointing towards the center line and the adjoining legs touching the supporting profile 29, there is also a short web which points in the direction of the wall 28 and which serves for increasing the rigidity of the hollow-profile heater 25.

A panel heater 26 in the form of a flexible heating mat is applied, specifically preferably vulcanized or glued, to the rear side of the working surface, that is to say that surface of the wall 28 which is directed inwards. This flexible heating mat consists of a plastic material 32 (preferably silicone elastomers) which is preferably reinforced with glass-fiber fabric and in which heating wires are embedded. Figures 2 and 3 show these heating wires as dots.

The wall 28 is slightly curved to correspond to the 90 shape of the curvature of the plates 23, 24, and is also rounded off in the outer regions.

According to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, as shown in Figure 3, adjacent hollow-profile heaters 25 are arranged next to one another, with an insulating layer 27 being included.

The insulating layer 27 is preferably made elastic and slightly wedge-shaped. The elasticity of the insulating layer 27 can absorb thermal expansions of the individual hollow-profile heaters 25.

It is evident that by an appropriate arrangement of any number of the hollow-profile heaters 25 de scribed above it is possible to compose any plate sizes from "standard modules". Also, as seen in the direction of transport, any configurations can be produced as regards the curvature.

It can be seen from Figure 4 how the individual hollow-profile heaters 25 can be fastened via the supporting profile 29 to the device frame, that is to say the side walls 30, 31. The supporting profiles 29 project laterally beyond the hollow-profile heaters 25 and pass through an orifice in the side wall 30 or 31, where they are fixed on both sides of the side wall by setting rings 44. If the orifices in the side walls 30, 31 are designed as slots, it is also guaranteed that the individual hollow-profile heaters 25 can be displaced relative to one another in the direction of transport, as a result of which thermal expansions can be absorbed, especially when the insulating layer 27 has been omitted.

Figure 5 shows a multi-layer panel heater 26 which is composed of layers 34,35 resting on one another in the manner of a "sandwich", and one or more wire-shaped heating elements 33 are embedded in a plastic material 32 in each layer 34, 35. Because of the arrangement of the heating wires 33, any temperature distributions which may be desired can be obtained.

Examples of the arrangement of the heating wires 33 in the panel heaters 26 are shown in Figures 6 to 130 8. In Figure 6, a heating wire is embedded in the plastic material 32 in the form of a meander, that is to say forming U-shaped loops, in such away that the long legs of the U are parallel to the long side of the panel heater 26 and consequently transverse to the direction of transport of the device. The current feed terminals 36 and 37 are guided out on the same side of the panel heater 26, specifically on its short side.

In Figure 7, a meander-shaped arrangement of the heating wires 33 is chosen again, but in this case the long legs of the U extend parallel to the short sides of the panel heater 26, and it is also ensured here that the two current feed terminals 36, 37 project on the same side of the panel heater.

In Figure 8, three separate heating wires 33 are embedded in the plastic material 32, and here they are each arranged in the form of a loop curved in a serpentine configuration, these loops running para- llel to the long side and parallel to each other. Here again, the current feed terminals 36 and 37 project on one short side of the panel heater 26.

In this arrangement of the heating wires 33, the circuit illustrated in Figure 9 can be produced in an especially advantageous way. It must be pointed out, however, that several panel heaters having a configuration of the heating wires according to Figures 6 and 7, whether in a multi- layer arrangement according to Figure 5 or whether they each belong to different hollow-profile heaters 25, can be wired up in the same way. Advantageously, it is possible in particular, here, to change overfrom a parallel connection of the individual heating wires to a series connection. Electrical energy is supplied from the main N via contactors 51 andlor 52. In the position illustrated, both contactors 51, 52 are open, so thatthe heating wires 33 are isolated from the mains. When the contactor 51 is closed, but the contactor 52 is open, the three heating wires 33 are connected in series. The current then flows from the left-hand contact of the contactor 51 to the uppermost heating wire 33, from this into the middle heating wire, from this into the lower heating wire, and finally from this back via the right-hand contact of the contractor 51.

If, on the other hand, both contactors 51, 52 are closed, the common junction points between the output of the upper heating wire and the input of the middle heating wire and between the output of the middle wire and the input of the lower heating wire are connected to the mains via the contactor 52, so that the three heating wires 33 are connected electrically in parallel.

In a third switching combination in which the contactor 51 is open and the contactor 52 is closed, only the middle heating wire 33 is supplied with energy.

The contactors 51 andlor 52 are controlled via a thermostat 38. Forthis purpose, a temperature sensor48 can be arranged in the panel heater 26 in the region of the wall 28 of the hollow-profile heater 25 or else in the region of the transport plane of the conveyor belts 19, 20. An evaluation circuit t connected to the mains via a further switch actuates two switch contacts 49 and 50 which are thereby 41 GB 2 134 447 A connected to the mains or isolated from them and which then actuate the contactors 51 and 52 respec tively.

When the mains voltage is applied to the thermo stat 38, the evaluation circuit C detects whether the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 48 is well below a set nominal temperature. When this is so, the device is in the "heating-up phase". The two switch contacts 49 and 50 are then closed, as a result of which the contactors 51, 52 are closed and the heating wires 33 are connected to the mains in parallel. Rapid heating-up takes place as a result. If the evaluation circuit 15 detects that the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 48 is below the desired operating temperature by only a predeter mined amount (for example 30'C), the switch contact is opened, whilst the switch contact 49 still remains closed. Because the switch contact 50 is opened, the contactor 52 is opened, whilst the contactor 51 still remains closed. As a result, as described above, the three heating wires 33 are connected in series. Consequently, the energy supp ly is markedly reduced, so that the remaining heating-up to the operating temperature takes place correspondingly more slowly. This also prevents relatively large "overshoots", such as those which otherwise occur in a normal 2-point control. When the predetermined temperature is reached at the measuring point of the temperature sensor 48, the switch contact 49 is also opened via the evaluation circuit -t, whereupon the contactor 51 opens again and the heating wires 33 are disconnect - ed. The fine adjustment of the operating temperature is then carried out by actuating the switch contact 49. The above-described method of regulating the operating 100 temperature and that of automatically adjusting it subsequently by means of the thermostat 38 permit a tolerance of at most 3%, preferably a tolerance of 1 %.

The control described can be provided once only for all the hollow-profile heaters 25 or panel heaters 26 of a plate 23 or 24, according to the particular requirements, or else it can also be provided for each heating element 33. It is also possible to assign it to combinations of plates, heaters and/or heating ele ments.

All the technical details shown in the claims, the description and the drawings can be essential to the invention either in themselves or in any combina tion.

Claims

1. A device for gluing together sheet-like textile articles, said device comprising two conveyor belts arranged to be driven continuously at the same speed, the textile articles to be joined together being conveyable between said belts resting against one another in the transport region, a heating station having several heating zones and a subsequent pressing station, wherein the individual heating zones are arranged in succession in the transport plane of the conveyor belts and each has a heatable plate consisting of a plurality of hollow-profile heaters arranged next to one another, wherein 130 electrically heatable panel heaters are attached to the rear side of the working surface of the hollowprofile heaters and wherein the panel heaters are arranged to be switched on and off individually or in groups.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hollow-profile heaters of the individual plates are arranged directly next to one another.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hollow-profile heaters of the individual plates are arranged next to one another at a distance allowing expansion.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 orclairn 3, wherein adjacent hollowprofile heaters include be- tween them an insulating layer.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the insulating layer is made of elastic material.

6. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the working surface of the individual hol- low-profile heaters is curved.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the working surface of the individual hollow-profile heaters is curved to correspond to the shape of the curvature of the individual plates.

8. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein supporting profiles are adapted to be pushed into the hollow-profile heaters to mount said heaters on side walls of a frame of the device, said side walls being located on both sides of the conveyor belts.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the hollow-profile heaters are designed as extruded aluminum hollow-profile bars and the supporting profiles are designed as extruded steel hollowprofile bars.

10. A device as claimed in an preceding claim, wherein the panel heaters are designed as heating mats flexible per se and are vulcanized or glued onto the rear side of the working surface of the particular hollow-profile heater.

11. A device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the panel heaters consist of a fabric-reinforced plastic material with heating elements embedded in this.

12. A device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the flexible panel heaters are multi-layer, each layer having one or more heating elements, and the individual layers being vulcanized or glued to one another.

13. Adevice as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein a silicone-rubbervulcanize'd material serves as the plastic material.

14. Adeviceas claimed in anyoneof claims 11 to 13, wherein the fabric reinforcement is a glass-fibre fabric.

15. Adeviceasclaimed in anyone of claims 11 to 14, wherein the heating elements are smooth and/or spiral heating wires.

16. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the heating wires are embedded in the plastic material in the form of a U, in the form of a Z, helically and/or spirally, and current feed terminals are located on a side of the panel heaters which extend parallel to the transport direction of the textile articles.

17. A device as claimed in claim 16, wherein two or more layers of heating wires in arrangements 6 GB 2 134 447 A 6 having different configurations are embedded above one another in the or each layer of plastic material of each panel heater.

18. Adeviceas claimed in anyoneof claims 11 to 17, wherein the heating elements of each panel heater are arranged to be connected wither in parallel or in series with one another.:

19. A device as claimed in claim 18, wherein a thermostat is provided which is arranged firstly to connect the heating elements in parallel during a heating-up phase and then, shortly before the operating temperature is reached, to change over to a series connection, until the predetermined operating temperature on the working surface of the hollowprofile heaters is reached, with a tolerance of at most 3%.

20. A device as claimed in claim 19, wherein an additional switching contact is provided in the thermostat for the change-overfrom parallel con- nection to series connection.

21. A device as claimed in claim 20, wherein the additional switching contact is arranged to operate at between 0 and 30T below the desired operating temperature.

22. A device as claimed in anyone of claims 19to 21, wherein two or more heating elements of a panel heater and/or two or more hollow-profile heaters are arranged to be heated up and/or regulated as regards their temperature in a predetermined (prog- rammable) group combination.

23. A device for gluing together sheet-like textile articles substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, by Croydon Printing Company limited. Croydon, Surrey, 1984. Published by The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A lAY, from which copies may be obtained.

a t i ik